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This paper describes an experimental study on the performance of self-piercing riveted (SPR) joints and adhesively bonded SPR joints connecting steel and aluminum components under both quasi-static and cyclic loading. The joint configurations cover a wide range of material gauges, types and grades. Two and three thickness joints, with and without adhesive are also part of this study. Load versus deflection behavior, load carrying capacity, fatigue life and the failure modes for each type of joint are discussed. This study focuses on the influence of dissimilar material and adhesives to the joint performance.

This paper describes a study on identifying a suitable thickness for finite element modeling a “deformable washer” to simulate bolted joints for vehicle level durability analysis based on experimental results. First, a test matrix table is introduced, which is based on representative vehicle structures for different bolt/nut sizes, bolt grades, sheet gages, and sheet materials etc. Then coupon tests, both static and fatigue, are illustrated. Next, the corresponding finite element model with different thickness of “deformable washers” and results are presented. Following that, the optimal “deformable washer” thickness is recommended based on statistical parameters (mean and standard deviation) of the relative differences between finite element analysis results and physical test results. Lastly, a case study is demonstrated for the proposed strategy.